The 1st Senate District includes Galt, Herald, Elk Grove, eastern Sacramento County, the foothill counties of Calaveras, Amador and El Dorado, part of Placer and Nevada counties, and the entire Highway 395 corridor from Mammoth Lakes to the Oregon border (except for the portion in Nevada).

Forty-two percent of the district's registered voters live in Sacramento County.

Republican Ted Gaines and Democrat Ken Cooley were vying to replace Sen. Dave Cox, a Republican who died at the age of 72 in July 2010 — triggering the election.

Gaines will be sworn into office Thursday morning as representative for the 1st Senate District at the State Capitol.

“I am honored to have been elected by the voters in the 1st District and am ready to fight hard for taxpayers and ensure job-creation is our number one priority,” Gaines said in a recent press release. “I have big shoes to fill and I look forward to working closely with my Republican colleagues as we propose common-sense priorities that encourage private sector job growth and help balance the budget without raising taxes.”

Cooley, a lawyer and graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, is mayor of Rancho Cordova, and campaigned on a platform of creating jobs, protecting education, opposing new taxes and greater accountability of state agencies.

Gaines is owner of a Sacramento insurance company and is a fifth-generation Roseville resident. He served on the Placer County Board of Supervisors and was elected to the 4th Assembly District in 2006. .